2015 Singapore Grand Prix - Second practice session

2015 Singapore Grand Prix - First practice session

2015 Singapore GP - Thursday Drivers Press Conference (video)

Romain Grosjean said that he knows were he's going to drive in 2016 but wont tell us more about the subject... what do you think? Let me know on the Facebook page.

FIA press conference schedule - Singapore

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Lotus duo Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado will be among the drivers facing the press in Singapore on Thursday. On Friday meanwhile Mercedes chief Toto Wolff and Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn will join several other senior team personnel in answering questions from the media. The line-ups in full...

Thursday, September 17, 1800 hours local time (1000 hours GMT)
Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Pastor Maldonado (Lotus), Roberto Merhi (Marussia), Felipe Nasr (Sauber), Sergio Perez (Force India)

Friday, September 18, 2315 hours local time (1515 GMT)
John Booth (Marussia), Monisha Kaltenborn (Sauber), Franz Tost (Toro Rosso), Claire Williams (Williams), Toto Wolff (Mercedes)

The qualifying and post-race conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.

(source: f1.com)

Marussia hand Rossi race debut in Singapore

Marussia have announced that American racer Alexander Rossi will drive for them in five of the remaining seven races this season, starting with this weekend’s 2015 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.

The GP2 race winner will replace Roberto Merhi in Singapore, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Brazil, though the Spaniard - who has started 11 races this season - will retain his seat alongside Will Stevens in Russia and Abu Dhabi. Merhi will also join Fabio Leimer as an official reserve driver at the events in which he's not competing.

“I’m very thankful to race for the Manor Marussia F1 team and for their continued belief in me,” said Rossi, who has competed in five FP1 sessions for Caterham and Marussia since 2012.

“I’ve been prepared for this opportunity for quite a while now. Many will know from 2014 that the team and I already have a strong relationship and there’s a bit of unfinished business for me here.

“This is a small F1 team that has been through so much. They exemplify passion and true strength of character, and their comeback this season is extraordinary. I’m honoured to be part of this legacy and their continued growth and success.

“I want to thank the management at Manor Marussia F1 Team and my team in the GP2 Series, Racing Engineering, for supporting both my F1 duties and the completion of an already strong GP2 campaign. Since Monza, my return to F1 came together rather quickly and seamlessly. The collective support of both Manor and Racing Engineering was instrumental in making this opportunity possible.

“Singapore is a circuit I really enjoy and the timing of my debut could not be more perfect. There’s a lot of work ahead and I’m looking forward to a busy end to the 2015 season.”

Marussia team principal John Booth said Rossi’s appointment was made in the long-term interests of the team.

“We are delighted to sign Alexander as race driver,” he said. “He is widely-regarded as a driver who is on the cusp of an exciting F1 career and his current form in the GP2 Series has done much to reinforce his clear potential. With that in mind, we are pleased to support his current GP2 commitments while he continues to battle for the championship win, therefore he will race in five of the seven remaining Grands Prix this season, with Roberto contesting Russia and Abu Dhabi for us.

“Signing Alexander is a continuation of our proud record of providing young drivers with the opportunity to showcase their talents. We believe he will do a great job and look forward to seeing him race for the first time this weekend in Singapore. It is also fantastic news for the sport that it will have an American driver again, particularly with the United States Grand Prix on our horizon and now two races in South America, in Mexico and Brazil. I know Alexander is very excited about that and we look forward to providing him with the opportunity to show the American public what he can do.

“While Roberto is obviously disappointed, he understands that this decision is in the long-term interests of the team and we thank him for his professionalism. No decision has been made regarding our 2016 driver line-up and we will continue to evaluate our options during the remainder of the season.”

Rossi has taken two wins in 16 races in this year’s GP2 Series, and currently lies second to McLaren test driver Stoffel Vandoorne in the standings.

(source: f1.com)

The Singapore Grand Prix - did you know?

Did you know that Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso have only finished off the podium in Singapore twice, or that the safety car has featured in every race at Marina Bay to date? We take a look at the most fascinating stats and trivia ahead of this weekend's 2015 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix...

This year sees Singapore host its eighth world championship Grand Prix, all of which have been at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The inaugural event in 2008 was the first F1 race to be run at night under floodlights and was won, somewhat controversially, by Renault’s Fernando Alonso.

Speaking of Alonso, the Spaniard has finished in the points in all seven races in Singapore to date, and has finished on the podium in five of them - an impressive record matched only by Sebastian Vettel. Vettel, however, has three race victories to Alonso’s two, and is also the only driver to have won in consecutive years (doing so in 2011, 2012 and 2013). Like Alonso, Lewis Hamilton has also claimed a pair of wins at the street track, and can also boast the record for most pole positions at the circuit with three.

Hamilton may have scored a ‘grand slam’ (pole, win, fastest lap, led every lap) at the last round in Italy, but Alonso and Vettel are the only drivers to have scored one in a race at Marina Bay. Vettel’s 2013 grand slam (or grand chelem as it’s often known) was the third of his career, whereas Alonso’s 2010 version was his first (and as yet only).

Only six drivers have won a world championship Grand Prix from further back on the grid than the 15th position that Alonso started from in Singapore in 2008. However, the Spaniard’s achievement is slightly tainted by the fact that his path to victory was aided (without Alonso’s knowledge) by team mate Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashing and bringing out the safety car at a convenient moment.
Speaking of crashes and safety cars, shunts have been a common feature of races in Singapore, so much so that the safety car has been deployed at least once in every Grand Prix at Marina Bay to date. There have been a total of 10 deployments over the seven previous races.

Red Bull are overwhelmingly the most successful team in Singapore Grand Prix history having taken four wins and eight podium finishes. They are also the only team to have led over 100 laps at Marina Bay. Mercedes, by contrast, have only recorded one podium finish in Singapore in five races - that was Hamilton’s win last year.

The Marina Bay Street Circuit has more corners than any other circuit on the calendar - 23 (14 left handers and 9 right handers). The fact that most of these are fairly tight in nature helps contribute to Singapore having one of the longest average lap times on the calendar, comparable only to Spa-Francorchamps which is some 1.939 km greater in length.

The relatively slow nature of the circuit - and the propensity for safety cars - means it takes longer than average to complete the 305 km minimum race distance. As a result, Singapore is almost always the longest race of the season. None of the previous seven races in Singapore has been completed in under 1 hour 56 minutes.

The smallest winning margin in Singapore Grand Prix history came in 2010 when Alonso beat Vettel by just 0.239s. Coincidentally the biggest winning margin at the venue involved the same two drivers and came in 2013 when Vettel finished 32.627s ahead of Alonso. That was one of only two occasions in the race’s history when the margin of victory has been over 10s. The other was last year when Hamilton beat Vettel by 13.534s.

Sebastian Vettel holds the lap record at Marina Bay, the German taking his Red Bull around in 1m 48.574s in the 2013 race. Countryman Nico Hulkenberg scored his only race fastest lap at the circuit in 2012. 

As with any street circuit, overtaking is tricky in Singapore, making pole position even more valuable than usual. In fact, the pole sitter has won five of the seven previous races at Marina Bay (71 percent).

On the subject of pole positions, Mercedes go into this weekend looking to tie Williams’ long standing record of 24 consecutive P1 starts, which was set across the 1992/93 campaigns. Hamilton meanwhile is chasing his 20th straight front row start, which, if he achieves it, would leave him just four short of Ayrton Senna’s all-time record.

Speaking of Senna, a victory this weekend would move Hamilton level with the great Brazilian (and Vettel) on 41 career victories. Coincidentally, Senna achieved that tally across 161 race starts, and you guessed it: Singapore will be Hamilton’s 161st race start… 

And finally, the reigning world champion has won seven races so far this season, but he’ll need to win the remaining seven if he wants to surpass Vettel’s single season record of 13, set in 2013.

(source: f1.com)

2015 Singapore Grand Prix preview

Marina Bay, Singapore

The Singapore GP is legendary even though it is one of the newer tracks. It was the first night grand prix and it is also known for the "crashgate" scandal. 

Nelson Piquet Jr. crashes into the wall on purpose.

Crashgate was perpetrated by the Renault F1 team who ordered Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash deliberately during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in order to gain an advantage for Fernando Alonso who was his teammate at the time.

On 28 September 2008, on the 14th lap of the Singapore race, Piquet crashed into the circuit wall at turn 17, necessitating a safety car deployment. This allowed Alonso to make an early pitstop and subsequently gain the advantage to win the race after starting 15th on the grid. Piquet described his crash at the time as a simple mistake.

After being dropped by the Renault team following the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Piquet alleged that he had been asked by the team to deliberately crash to improve the race situation for Alonso, sparking an investigation of Renault F1 for race fixing by the FIA. After the investigation, Renault F1 were charged with conspiracy on September 4th, and were to answer the charge on September 21st 2009.

Flavio Briatore and Nelson Piquet Jr.

On September 16th Renault stated that they would not contest the charges, and announced that the team's managing director, Flavio Briatore, and it's executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, had left the team.

On September 21st it was announced that the Renault F1 team had been handed a disqualification from Formula One, which was suspended for two years pending any further comparable rule infringements. Briatore was suspended from all Formula One events and FIA-sanctioned events indefinitely, whilst Symonds received a five-year ban. Their bans were subsequently overturned by a French court, although they both agreed not to work in Formula One or FIA-sanctioned events for a specified time as part of a later settlement reached with the FIA.

This year I am sure Alonso will not win with McLaren even if a UFO would fall from the sky.

And now what I think will happen this weekend:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The Top 3 on Sunday

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Force India will have a good result.

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